Mechanically and/or electromechanically operated doors serve an important function in both commercial and residential contexts ensuring that personnel and/or visitors who are not authorized to access particular premises or secured items are restricted from such access, while providing access to the intended parties. For this purpose, mortise locks have been installed into doors and entryways as a way of concealing a lock's inner workings from access and view. Examples of previous mortise lock designs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,673,605, 3,808,849, 4,890,870, 4,988,133, 4,950,005, 5,474,348, 6,393,878, and 7,836,738. Traditional mortise lock systems are difficult to install and can often have problems with alignment and smooth function. Exterior fasteners detract from a door's aesthetic and provide intruders with potential entry points in the lock. Additionally, since part of a door's interior must be removed in order to install a mortise lock, traditional locks leave the door weakened and vulnerable to forced entry. Examples of these traditional configurations are shown in FIGS. 45, 46, and 47.
It will be appreciated that this background description has been created by the inventor to aid the reader, and it is not to be taken as a reference to prior art nor as an indication that any of the indicated problems were themselves appreciated in the art.